Dr. Kamii's Conference ...

Finally, after all the years of studying her work, implementing her ideas, and working with people that have worked so close to her, I got the pleasure of meeting Dr. Kamii back in May. She was giving a presentation at Shujitsu University in Okayama and Amanda and I were lucky enough to be a part of it. She was a gem.

Next to meeting Dr. Kamii, the most exciting part of the day was visiting a new education building at the University. The building had a model classroom assembled on the lower level and it was AMAZING. A teacher's dream. I thought my classroom at Freeburg was ideal, this was double the size and with so much more. Amanda and I were in a teacher's heaven.

Walking in there was the shoe cubby and teacher's office to the right:
and the observation booth to the left:

I'm not sure exactly how many kids they were planning on, but there's enough tables for my 14 babies from last year :)

Almost every classroom has a piano. I love it.

& so much floor space ... Imagine the ramps that could go up!

And there was a full sized bathroom that was pretty great.

and a kitchen:
The far wall of the classroom was all floor to ceiling windows that led to an outdoor area with a garden and a pool. (That's another thing almost all hoikuens have - a swimming pool!)

One of the most exciting things was that after we had visited the model classroom, Kazuyo (one of my principals) told me that the entire classroom was modeled after Freeburg. A group of the Japanese people I work with have been to Freeburg and after returning from Iowa they made plans to imitate a Freeburg classroom to use as a model for students studying education. It's exciting to know that my school back home has made such an impact on education in Japan. It's definitely something for us to be proud of.

Cheers to Freeburg.

much love,
-tara-
xx